The Colors
by dirtydeedsdonedirtcheap
Summary: Christmas does not exist in Malfoy manor.


**Disclaimer:** **Anything you recognize belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

 **The Colors**

Christmas does not exist in Malfoy manor.

"Lucius?" a soft voice called out.

The man, Lucius, doesn't even bother to respond. He doesn't pause or make any movement as if he has heard her. Instead, as if it's a mechanical process, he continues buttoning his shirt.

"Lucius?" the voice whispered again.

He groaned, quickly filling with annoyance and buttoned his final button. Still, he didn't acknowledge her. He instead reached for the black cloak that was laid out on the bed in front of him.

" _Lucius_ …"

"What!" he snapped. Lucius quickly turned around, anger and annoyance quickly appearing on his face. He glared at his wife, his grey eyes eyeing her hotly. The anger in his voice made her slouch slightly, something she would never be caught doing in public.

She bit the inside of her cheek and nervously pushed back a piece of blonde hair. It wasn't that she was afraid of her husband, on the contrary she loved him, but it was the question that she was about to ask that filled her with nervousness. Normally a strong willed woman, Narcissa Malfoy eyed her husband cautiously.

"Do you really have to go?" she questioned. It was barely above a whisper. She hung her head, her blonde hair covering her face like a mask as her husband stood rooted to his spot.

"Of course Narcissa," he said quickly. "Don't be ridiculous. It's an honor. Think of it like that Narcissa," he pleaded quietly, "an honor."

She stopped herself from scoffing and instead busied herself with the hem of her dress. She needed to breathe, relax. What was the worst that could happen?

"An honor," she whispered distractedly, "of course."

But her husband didn't hear her. He was too busy pacing the room with newfound excitement and energy. His grey eyes lit up as he thought of all the possibilities that the night had to offer.

"I can do this Narcissa!" he shouted, grabbing her by the arms gently. "Just think! First Bellatrix and then you. Bellatrix—"

Bella, he was always talking about Bellatrix. Bellatrix was the first female to get the Dark Mark. Bellatrix quickly became the Dark Lord's confidant. Even with her older sister in Azkaban her husband still talked about the possibilities. Even with the Dark Lord gone, someplace unknown without any power he could still see the reward. It was laughable. Her husband restoring the Dark Lord to his full power and uniting all of his followers, still Narcissa smiled warmly at her husband unable to ruin his plans.

An honor! What an honor! Receiving the Dark Mark, being branded by the man that was supposed to save the Wizarding World and yet was defeated by an infant.

 _An honor_ , Narcissa thought pitifully.

"But Lucius," it slipped out before she could stop herself, an icy chill filling the warm room, "it's Christmas."

She instantly regretted what she said. Lucius released her from his grip and quickly walked back towards their dresser, opening and closing drawers, cursing underneath his breath until he pulled out a black hood and then quickly turned on his heel, glaring at his wife. His eyes were once again cold and all the playfulness that he had been revealing before had quickly vanished.

His teeth grinded together and swiftly, in one quick motion, he stomped towards her, gripping her wrist roughly.

"We talked about this already!" he shouted, the vein in his forehead throbbing. It took Narcissa every ounce of strength in her body to stop herself from crying out, not from physical pain but from disappointment. "There is no Christmas! It isn't a proper holiday! I won't have you muddling his mind! My son will celebrate a proper Christmas when—" he cursed, the clock in the room chimed, signaling a new hour, he would be late if he continued. With one last venomous look at his wife he apparated from his bedroom.

Narcissa stopped herself from sobbing and instead grabbed the brush that was nearby and quickly passed it through her hair. She pinched her white cheeks to give herself some color and rose from her chair, smoothing out the wrinkles of her crème colored dress.

She wouldn't waste another minute.

Every minute was valuable.

She grabbed her wand and briskly walked out of her bedroom and down the corridor, passing her sons room three times before she had the nerve to barge in. Her shaking hand clutched the doorknob and quickly opened the door to reveal a young boy of the age of four, sprawled out on a dark red carpet, flipping the pages of a picture book with a bored look on his face.

"Draco!"

"Mum!" he shouted, jumping up into a seated position. "Do I get my surprise now?" he questioned, an eager look on his face.

Narcissa smiled at her son and nodded her head quickly. This was how it had been ever since he was born. He couldn't remember the early years, just the two that had just passed. The colors, the magical colors was what always stuck with him.

"Close your eyes," she commanded. Draco quickly obliged, squeezing his grey eyes shut and planting his small hands on them for extra measure.

Narcissa waved her hand in front of her sons face and confident that he couldn't see anything she quickly began to swish and flick her wand, whispering different spells, murmuring different things and making several commands in her head. She watched as Draco's bedroom transformed before her eyes. His bed disappeared in place of a medium sized tree that was decorated with different colored ornaments. A red underskirt with white trimming rested underneath the twinkling tree and on top of the skirt were small boxes of wrapped presents. She smiled to herself, letting her wand hand whip around freely. The beige walls were now a warm green, two red stockings hung by the fireplace and garland hung all around the room giving it a true Christmas feel.

Tiredly, Narcissa wiped her sweaty brow and then tucked her wand into her pocket and then clapped her hands together. Draco didn't wait for her to tell him to open his eyes. Instead his hands quickly fell to his lap and his eyes opened with wonder. He stared, amazed at the transformation of his room. It wasn't his room anymore.

It was Christmas.

"Happy Christmas, Draco!" she said with a smile.

He couldn't hide the excited grin on his face as his Mum passed him the one present that was wrapped underneath the tree. For once, he paused before opening it and spun around on the floor grabbing the pop up book that had been forgotten once she entered the room.

"For you Mum!" he said, gripping a piece of folded parchment and holding it out.

Narcissa couldn't hide her excitement. She smiled and took the parchment from her son, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. She stared at it, enamored with the little drawing of a small stick figured blonde haired boy and a tall skinny blonde haired women, holding hands and smiling with presents all around them.

She looked back down at Draco who was quickly ripping open the box that confined his present and pulled it out with an excited grin on his face. It was his traditional gift. She had been giving him the same one since the first secret Christmas they had shared together. This year was their biggest celebration of all, normally she slipped out of her bedroom hours after Lucius had fallen asleep worried that he would wake-up and realize what she was doing. Their secret celebration usually involved just the small gift that they played with for as long as Draco was able to stay awake.

A gift that Andromeda had given a tiny Narcissa when she showed her the true meaning of Christmas, one that differed from her family, one that Bellatrix didn't approve and was destroyed once Andromeda was blasted off the family tree.

One that was filled with love.

"Mummy, I want to see the colors," he said, holding up the present in his hands. It was a simple glass egg punctured with different shaped holes.

Draco didn't have to ask twice, his heart started to beat rapidly in his chest, the two filled with anticipation as Narcissa reached inside her pocket for her wand and levitated the egg in the air.

" _Roto!_ " she shouted. The egg began to rotate in the air and the walls of the dimly lit room started to come alive. Different shapes and colors filled Draco's bedroom. He clapped his hands with glee and pointed to the images of dogs that looked like they were begging for treats and fairies that flew from one wall to another.

The different colors lit up the room and the two twirled around amazed at the images that flashed before them. Narcissa sighed, taking in the blues and the greens, remembering the way she used to lay on the floor next to Andromeda, wishing their secret Christmas would never end.

The next day they would wake-up, the colors and shapes still in their minds as they celebrated a quiet Christmas with their family. A Christmas filled with silence and presents that none of the sisters needed. One that didn't have hugs shared between the family, where emotions were supposed to be shoved to the deepest pit of your stomach and fizzle before it reached the surface.

" _I love you, Cissa," Andromeda would whisper right before she would put away the egg," never forget the true meaning of Christmas."_

Narcissa was ready to point out another image when she heard a shout and a door slam. Her wand automatically found her hand and with one quick flick the colors stopped, the egg dropped to the floor breaking into tiny pieces. All the traces of their secret Christmas vanished. Tears welled up in Draco's eyes as he scurried to his bed at her urging and quietly his face fell as he watched with pain as his mum shoved his card into her pocket haphazardly.

" _NARCISSA!"_ A voice. It was Lucius. She could recognize his voice anywhere. She kissed her son on the forehead and quickly, without a second look to the small boy who was sobbing silently in his bed, she ran out of his room and down the dark corridor to her husband.

"Narcissa!"

She jumped, his Death Eater mask was still on and she had to stop herself from screaming from fright. He ripped it off at the look of terror on her face and smiled warmly at her.

"You should have seen it! More showed up this time! We're going to find him Narcissa. We're so close! A _plan_! We have a plan! You have to come Narcissa, quickly. You can get branded once he finds out all the work we are doing, how loyal we really are…we're going to be rewarded by him Narcissa, isn't this fantastic?" he tugged her hand, waiting for a reaction.

Narcissa stared sadly at her husband and gripped his hand. She let the cries of her son fall from her mind and the colors that had mesmerized her, the hope that had filled her when she heard her husband calling out for her so soon. She managed a small smile that Lucius returned.

They stood in the dark, smiling at each other, different thoughts going through their heads.

Christmas, Narcissa knew would no longer exist in the Malfoy house. The true meaning of Christmas would be forgotten and the spinning egg was destroyed. The joy and the smiles would all be pretend so her son could experience a true pureblood Christmas. One filled with silver instead of red and greens. One filled with piles of presents that he wouldn't even need, wouldn't even want and yet demand without saying thank you for them.

Narcissa smiled at Lucius, tears falling from her blue eyes.

"I know Narcissa, I'm excited too," he said, embracing her in a hug.

She didn't say anything but continued to lightly sob because Narcissa Malfoy knew that she had just experienced her last Christmas.

 **Author's Note:** **This is different from what I usually write but I wanted to try and make something dark for Christmas. This was for the 'Christmas Challenge,' and my character was Narcissa. I hope you all enjoyed this and if you didn't leave a review anyway and tell me what you didn't like. Criticism is always welcome. Happy Holidays!**


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